Description

An extremely imaginative and lyrical Invasion Manual of Earth - not for Aliens, but for Demons, this text has been hailed by critics such as Fred Durst, Penn and Teller and Lars Ulrich as one of the funniest books ever written. It is penned by Lord Satan himself and complete with illustrations, diagrams and an encyclopaedia of Earth Terms.show more

Review quote

Absolutely one of the funniest books ever. -- Lars Ulrich, Metallica
Written by a man whose mind has an extra dimension. -- Steven Wright, comedian
Brilliant in the vein of Twain with an air of Voltaire. -- Marc Ian Barasch, authorshow more

About Martin Olson

Martin Olson is a comedy writer, television producer, stage director and composer. He is also a playwright and poet known for comedic and unusual subject matter. Olson is best known as a "founding father" of the Boston comedy scene, as a collaborator with comedians, composers and artists, and as a writer-producer of off-beat television series and stage plays.
While selling comedy screenplays to Dreamworks, United Artists, Touchstone Pictures, and Warner Bros., Olson also wrote and directed live stage performances in Hollywood at the HBO Theater, The Steve Allen Theater and Comedy Central Stage featuring well-known comedians and actors.
Over the past 15 years, Olson wrote and produced nine comedy specials, inflicted on the populace via CBS, HBO, Showtime, Cinemax and A & E.
Olson has written for Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Jonathan Winters, Denis Leary, Rodney Dangerfield, Rob Schneider, Penn and Teller, Richard Belzer, Bobcat Goldthwait, Kevin Pollak, Kevin Nealon, Kevin Meaney and many other Kevins.
Olson received an Emmy nomination and an Ace Award for television writing. As a composer, he was honored with a 2010 Emmy Nomination for Songwriting, a 2009 Emmy Nomination for Primetime Songwriting, and a 1997 Annie Award Nomination for Songwriting in an Animated Series. Tony Millionaire was born in Boston and grew up in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He writes and draws the ongoing adventures of Sock Monkey, published by Dark Horse Comics since 1998. He is the creator of the syndicated comic strip, MAAKIES, which has been collected by Fantagraphics, who also published his graphic novel, Billy Hazelnuts. His comic strip Maakies has been adapted to the small screen as THE DRINKY CROW SHOW for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.
Born in Libya (despite his better judgment) to German and Indian parents, Mahendra Singh labored for many years as an art director and illustrator in the humid ambience of Washington, DC, the inspiration for many of the personalities depicted in this book. After inviting and escaping mob justice several times, he fled for the humid and frozen ambience of Montreal where he has gained some notoriety as an expert illustrator of all things Lewis Carroll and Surrealist. He devotes his spare time to designing tin-foil turbans for Hindus who no longer wish to hear the voices in other people's heads, taking Buddhist shut-ins to Nirvana concerts and helping Quebecois atheists distribute blank pamphlets on the subway. His illustrations for this book were inspired by an inordinate lust for money and a solipsistic arrogance further encouraged by the honeyed tongue of Martin Olson.show more

Customer reviews

The Encyclopaedia of Hell is not a good book for the easily offended (unless you don't want them coming to your house again, in which case it's probably a clever gift idea). It is, however, an excellent book for those who aren't overly sensitive and have a warped sense of humour.
I loved it. It is written as an encyclopaedia, but don't let that put you off. Think of it as an entertaining story about the invasion and annexation of Earth by the forces of Hell, interspersed with a collection of brief, alphabetically themed jokes.
My favourite thing about the Encyclopaedia is the extra content hidden in codes and ciphers throughout the book. This hidden content is a lot like the bonus features on a DVD - if codebreaking isn't your thing or you just can't be bothered you can enjoy the book on its own, but if you do want to decode the hidden content you'll have hours of bonus fun. I wish more authors would take this kind of interactive approach, and hope to see more from Martin Olson in the future.show more

by Stella

Encyclopaedia of Hell makes fun of EVERYTHING in the human race from acne to zippers. It is an invasion guide proposed by the Ruler of Hell, Lord Satan himself. This is how we humans seem to the demons.
Think along the lines of Max Brooks' Zombie Survival Guide. It is not to be taken seriously. The terminologies are described in the most sarcastic and surreal ways meant to show that humans are lesser beings to demons. It also talks about eating humans, diseases that make human flesh "taste better", mentions of suicide, stupid politicians, etc. It's not for the faint of heart... and those without a sense of humor.
My favorite parts are editor Zyk's memo. His affair was so hilarious! His narration was so animated and just flat out funny. I honestly found myself just breezing through the encyclopaedia part just so I can get to his letters sooner. There were parts of the book that got a bit redundant. They were still funny but as it went on, I got a little bored and it didn't quite have my attention anymore.
I also liked the illustrations. Again, not to be taken seriously. Many are grotesque representations of the key demons mentioned. You'll be transported as if you're reading Satan's manuscript from the cover, to the layout, even the spelling of some words!
Rating: 4/5.
Recommendation: Go into this with a sense of humor.show more